March 4, 2025 (Oakville, ON) – The CAN Health Network is pleased to welcome Hygienic Echo, a Canadian leader in infection prevention and control, to its growing network of health care innovators.
According to Public Health Ontario, an estimated 250,000 Canadians—one in nine hospitalized patients—acquire infections each year while receiving treatment for other conditions. Proper hand hygiene is the most effective way to prevent health care-associated infections. Despite this importance, health care providers struggle to maintain compliance due to heavy workloads.
Founded in 2017 by globally recognized biomedical engineer, Dr. Geoff Fernie, Hygienic Echo is a Canadian company transforming infection prevention and control with advanced antimicrobial technologies, including intelligent disinfection systems, and real-time hand hygiene prompting and monitoring.
Its innovative Buddy Badge System is a real-time hand hygiene prompting and monitoring solution designed to improve compliance and reduce hospital-acquired infections (HAI). Worn by health care workers, the badge vibrates to remind them to sanitize their hands at critical moments, while also keeping a record of compliance and providing personalized feedback. The system’s advanced analytics help identify infection transmission patterns, offering valuable insights for hospital patient care managers and infection control teams.
Through the CAN Health Network, Hygienic Echo is partnering with Grand River Hospital in Kitchener, Ontario, to implement the Buddy Badge System in its Medicine Unit. This initiative will evaluate the system’s ability to enhance hand hygiene compliance, reduce HAIs, and improve overall patient and provider safety.
In addition to hospitals, Hygienic Echo is also being used to stop the spread of infections in long-term care, restaurants, schools, universities, hotels, and more.
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